


These Minutes We Share

by floralandrogyny



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Barista Phil Lester, Cafe AU, Fluff, Lawyer Dan Howell, M/M, Oblivious Phil Lester, Phil Lester Is A Sweetheart, Short One Shot, and bad british weather, it has been edited slightly, so if it looks different to the first time you read it that's why
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2019-07-10 09:46:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15946811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/floralandrogyny/pseuds/floralandrogyny
Summary: It's the cafe AU no one asked for where Phil owns and runs a small cafe called the Quaint & Cosy down by the train station, where he caters to every kind of individual that passes through there, from the eclectic weirdo to the stiff professional. One morning, he finds himself catching the eye of one particular commuter with a three piece and a cute smile to match, who's much more relaxed than any customer in a rush to catch a train has a right to be.Curious, he strikes up a conversation.





	These Minutes We Share

Monday mornings were always a rush, but so was every other day.

The bell on the doorway rang ceaselessly, announcing the comings and goings of the customers who were always in such a hurry that they could barely find a spare second to breathe. Even as they ordered their coffee and bagel (to go, of course), they would glance at their watch or a reminder would flash up on their screens or do a number of other endless things that reminded them that the passage of time still existed. The clock still counted down the minutes until the next train and the loudspeaker still announced the delays and arrivals, but just because there was a constant reminder that you had to be somewhere didn't mean you had to listen to it.

This café - officially named the  _'Quaint & Cosy _’ but locally known as Lester's - was set up for the sole purpose of providing a relaxed atmosphere for all those busy people who rushed through the station, their mind cluttered and filled with the stresses and worries of the day ahead.

However, no matter how much the owner tried to keep and maintain a relaxed atmosphere, it just wouldn't stick. People were always fretting about something or other - about missing their train, about missing that important job interview, about being late for work, about forgetting their keys, about trivial, tiny things that they wouldn’t spare a passing thought to in a few years’ time. It didn’t stop him from trying, no, he was an optimist at heart after all, but there was no way to force people into relaxing.

—

It was right in the middle of the morning rush when Phil first saw him. He didn't take much notice of him at first as he looked like every hurried professional without a second to spare - three-piece suit, a hundred-pound haircut and a smile that could charm a statue. Except, one thing was off. In a sea of hunched shoulders, stiff greetings and muttered curses, he stood out prominently as one of the few who was calm. His entire demeanour was one of someone who had let their guard down and was here to actually enjoy their morning,

Despite this, he didn’t stick around very long because by the time Phil had managed to deal with the rest of the waiting customers and sorted out a problem with the coffee machine, he had vanished. Either he had been served or had grown tired of waiting and left to do something more productive with his time.

Phil shrugged off the male and didn't give him a second thought, at least, not until he arrived again the next day, just as aloof and without a care in the world even though the briefcase and the occasional glance at a watch suggested he had a train to catch.

Curious, Phil made sure that he was the one that took his order this time, flashing his best customer service smile and adjusting the apron tied around his waist.

“Good Morning, what can I get you today?” He greeted.

“Morning,” he replied, reaching into his pocket for some change. “I'd just like a coffee please, extra sugar.”

“Right away, anything else?” Phil inserted his order into the till before moving to the coffee machine to whip up his order.

“That's it, thanks.”

“Okay, that'll be—” Phil stopped short, noticing that the customer had already got out the exact amount he was about to request. He smiled, almost amused by this, and grabbed his now finished drink, adding the additional sugar before closing the lid and handing it to him.

“It's a nice place you've got here, I like it.” The customer complimented giving Phil a nod, which was universally known as ‘thanks’ and then sat down before Phil could even ask his name.

“He's cute, isn't he?”

Phil felt a nudge in his side and glanced at one of his long-time employees, Alice, who wore a salacious grin and had eyes like a predator. Phil laughed her off, running a hand through his hair, messing up the perfect quiff.

“If you're into the corporate zombie, sure.” Phil replied, waving off her comment with a shrug. Physically, yeah, he was pretty attractive and boasted manners that most wearing a suit didn't bother with. But still, his type was… more casual, he supposed?

He sighed. He didn't know what his type was, most of his dates flunked because of his awkwardness and he hadn't the heart to try again any time soon.

“I call dibs then.” She shouted, Phil was quick to shush her and shooed her off back to work before quickly doing the same, thoughts of the stranger soon replaced by the mundane thoughts that came with owning a café; whose shift is it next? Have I sorted out the payroll? Crap, when does stock come in?

—

The next day, Phil found that Alice had called in sick. It was a small café, so he only ever kept three other staff on at most when he knew it was going to be busier than usual, but he had the distinct feeling that he was going to struggle a little today.

And, struggle he did. Morning rush was always a bitch but this time he had to shout over clamouring customers just to maintain some order, apologising for the wait at every turn. In the chaos though, he noticed Mr Three Piece (a nickname he'd since given him seeing as he hadn't a clue what his actual name was) lingering in the queue, but with the long wait times he disappeared before he could make it to the front.

“He must catch the same train every day,” he commented aloud to no one in particular, sitting down at one of the window seats on his break with a coffee in hand. Now that things had calmed down, he could afford to relax and spend half a second to take in the scenery outside. It wasn’t exactly pretty, just a lot of idle commuters waiting for a train and the occasionally loud blare of the speaker ruining what would’ve been a nice backdrop to sit and enjoy a warm drink to.

—

“Thank God it's Wednesday, huh. Halfway through the week, hang in there Phil!” An over enthusiastic customer patted his shoulder before leaving and Phil found himself internally cringing, he hated it when people actually read the nametags and called him by his name. It was just  _weird_ and outright uncomfortable.

He considered getting rid of the name tags but was told by some douche-y business advisor that it ‘personalised’ the experience for the customers, whatever the hell that meant. Besides, it was a small, local business, the kind where everyone knew everyone and nametags just seemed redundant, which was probably why he didn’t chastise his employees when they forgot it at home or something.

Phil sighed and took a small second to let the cringe worthy experience pass and focused his attention on the next customer in line, his sleep addled brain needing a few seconds to process who it was.

“Oh, hey!” Upon noting who it was, Phil perked up a little and found his smile a little more genuine than it had been a few moments prior. “Coffee, extra sugar, right?”

“Yeah,” he replied, offering Phil a warm smile in response, and, just like the other day, had his change out when Phil brought back his drink. The brief look of confusion on his face amused Phil, “surprised you remember,”

“It’s not exactly a difficult order to memorize, oh and no thanks. This one's on the house,” Phil stated. “I noticed we were so busy yesterday that you weren't able to get one, so consider this my apology.”

“Huh, that's sweet of you. Don't suppose you've done that to every other customer who missed out yesterday?”

“You're the only one who's face I remembered well enough to do so.”

Oh god. That must've sounded creepy as all hell. Phil found his cheeks burning red in embarrassment, wanting the ground to swallow him up. Though it only took a second for him to reply, it felt like hours.

“That's actually kinda sweet, thanks…” he glanced down at the name tag and Phil found himself feeling subconscious about his own name. It's not like he had a weird name, he just felt a little judged. “Phil, right? I'm Dan, thanks for the free coffee. I'll try and make it up to you sometime.”

With that, he sat down again, and Phil was left with the aftermath of that embarrassing ordeal. He buried his face in his hands and leaned against the counter, god, why was he like this? His embarrassment was only intensified when he realised he still had another customer to serve.

—

Dan was in the café every day for the rest of the week, and in the brief period of time between him getting his coffee and leaving for his train, he and Phil got to know each other a little better - enough to call each other acquaintances at the very least. Some of the more notable facts he’d discovered were as follows;

As expected, Dan was a lawyer. Phil had incorrectly guessed accountant first and found out that Dan was admittedly pretty bad with numbers.

Dan has exactly 25 minutes between arriving in the café and leaving to catch his train, hence why he seems to just vanish after getting his coffee.

Despite being a lawyer, Dan enjoys playing video games in his spare time as it helps him take his mind off the paperwork and endless legalities. Speaking of his chosen career, apparently, he nearly ended up dropping out of law school due to a complete lack of motivation, but a few friends helped encourage him into it.

—

“I can't believe you're making a move on him when I called dibs,” groaned Alice, huffing as she watched Phil take off his apron and hang it up.

“What? I'm not doing anything like that!” Phil hurriedly insisted.

“Uh-huh,” she then pointed out the clock that decorated the back wall which indicated it was five to seven. “Course you ain't. I guess it just so happens that for the past week you've been taking your break a hell of a lot earlier than usual, always just in time for Mr Three Piece to arrive so you two can sit down and have a chat.”

She had him dead to rights. He had no plausible deniability, he had been taking earlier breaks just to chat with him but…

“His name’s Dan, first of all. And it's not like that, Alice. He's a decent guy, I just enjoy talking to him. Besides, I don't even know if he's into guys.”

“You're kidding me right? He's into you if that tells you anything.”

“Where did you get that into your head, he's not into me!”

Alice snickered and shook her head, men were always so oblivious to the advances of others.

“Whatever, speaking of, he's here now. Better not waste your break.”

—

Phil sat down in the window seat of the café, giving a small smile to Dan and handing over his morning coffee. This had become a common thing for the two, Dan sat down and took off his blazer, waving over to Phil who brought over his coffee and then they talked for the short time they had together.

Dan had given the Quaint & Cosy a charitable donation which he claimed was 'paying in advance’, meaning that when he came in the morning, his coffee was already paid and accounted for. Phil argued that the amount given would cover over a year's worth of coffee, seeing as his order was pretty cheap but Dan just shrugged it off, saying  _'I guess I'll just have to visit every day then, but only if you're the one serving me. Anyone else puts in the wrong amount of sugar. That's fair, right?_ ’

“Busy day today, huh?” Dan asked, glancing over at the growing queue over at the counter.

“Monday's always are.” Phil sighed, suddenly ten times more grateful that he'd taken his break early, carefully avoiding the gaze of his co-workers.

“I think one of your staff is trying to get your attention…” Dan pointed out, and Phil quickly averted his gaze avoiding any and all subtle cues that his staff required his help.

Alice had left him dead for last week so he was going to do the same now, especially after he found that her phoning in sick was just a ruse to stay in and watch the latest episode of some TV show he'd never heard of.

“They're probably not,” he lied, wearing a bright smile. “So, what about you. Busy today?”

“Yeah, I've got a court hearing to look forward to in an hour, I should really be going over my notes.” Dan took a sip of his coffee and Phil wondered how he could look so nonchalant despite so clearly being buried in work.

“Oh, god. Then you should definitely get to that,” Phil insisted, about to stand up and return to work. Of course he was busy, and here he was distracting him. “I'm so sorry if I've been a nuisance.”

“Sit down,” Dan laughed lightly, rubbing the nape of his neck. “Sure, I have stuff to do but it's all just paperwork that I can do later on the train. I can't exactly talk to you on the train unless I got your number, so I like to take advantage of that while I can.”

Phil remained in his seat and found a light blush on his face at Dan's admittance that he enjoyed talking to him, but being as oblivious as was, completely ignored the subtle request for his phone number.

“I guess it's a good thing I started taking my breaks early then,” Phil replied, tapping his fingers against the table nervously, distracting himself from his own racing thoughts by taking in Dan's appearance. It was only upon closer inspection that Phil noted the circles under his eyes and his slightly dishevelled hair, obviously being a lawyer wasn't all living it large.

“Taking your breaks early just for me? I'm flattered,” Dan stated, his tone evident that he had just said that to entice a reaction from the barista and he didn't let him down, immediately becoming flustered and denying everything.

After a while, Dan glanced at his watch and stood up, grabbing his blazer and suitcase in the process before smiling at Phil.

“Looks like it's that time again, see you tomorrow Phil.” And with that, he began to leave, but just before he exited he called over to Phil. “By the way, try not to throw away that cup too soon, yeah?2

“What… why would I keep it?” Phil frowned, having barely a clue what he was on about and he had swiftly left before he had a chance to get him to reiterate. It took a very irritated Alice to come over and shove Dan's empty coffee cup in his face, a number inscribed in pen written on it.

“Now that you're done being lovesick and stupid, you've got a café to run.”

—

After a brief apology to Alice for abandoning her in her time of crisis, the two spared a moment to share in their excitement that Phil had actually managed to get a guy's phone number. She did try to convince Phil to share it, claiming that it was only fair that she should get a stake in the game, but he held out pointing out how creepy and wrong it would be to just give out someone’s number to someone Dan didn’t even know.

Still, just because he had Dan's number didn't mean he had the confidence to text it. Something which Dan seemed fairly disappointed about the next day when Phil brought him his coffee, only this time, he had copied his method and wrote down his own number.

“God, this is so cheesy, how were you so smooth about it yesterday?” Phil bemoaned his own lack of confidence to the very man he was trying to be confident with - a less than effective tactic.

“I mean, I only wrote it down on the cup because you missed when I asked for it. It was a bit impromptu if you ask me.” Whether Dan was trying to downplay his method to spare him the embarrassment or he genuinely did it off the cuff like that, Phil didn't know but he appreciated it nonetheless.

“I might be a little slow at replying sometimes, especially during the day because I'll be here but, I'll try when I can.” Phil hastily apologized, though he knew as the owner he got a bit of lenience and would be able to reply more or less whenever.

“Don't worry about it, I'm the same. You can get fined in court for being on your phone,” Dan assured, wearing that same carefree smile that Phil had learned to love over the past week. “Message me on the train, yeah? I'd love to have someone to talk to.”

And before long he was gone again.

Phil was beginning to despise the short time they had together, but hopefully having each others numbers would lessen his urge for the next day to begin again so they could talk all over again.

—

For the rest of the week, in-between their morning talks, the two spoke through texts. Phil was amused to find that even though he was a lawyer, his texts were littered with emojis and disjointed messages about everything and nothing. The two had agreed to keep work out of their talks.

—

Then, Sunday morning came around and Phil was sat at their usual seats, frowning as he peered outside at the train platforms. The rain was pouring it down today, typical British weather, he didn't really expect anything much better, but what he did expect was Dan.

His hands were wrapped around the slowly cooling coffee, he was late. Ten minutes so, and Phil figured he must've overslept or something and decided not to risk it and headed straight for his train but still… he had been so particular about his timing that this didn't seem right.

Glancing down at his phone, he awaited an apologetic text or just something with an explanation. His fingers hovered over the send button, his own small message typed out, but he had never been the one to start the conversation, he was far too awkward, and he didn't want to come off as rude or obsessive.

He was just late.

Phil put his phone down and just as he did so, Dan walked in, his hair dripping wet and clearly out of breath.

“Christ, are you okay?” Phil stood up, immediately enquiring about his health because in all honesty, he didn't look like the type who was used to exercise. Not that he had any room to talk.

“Sorry I'm late,” he breathed out, waving away Phil's concerns and he sat down, taking off his soaked jacket as though nothing about this was in any peculiar. “Thanks for keeping this warm for me.”

“Not that I don't appreciate you coming but you definitely need to go catch your train,” Phil pointed out, a cursory glance at the clock confirming exactly that. “You're gonna miss it.”

Dan looked up from the coffee he'd taken from Phil, his brows furrowed in confusion.

“What? It's a Sunday, I don't work on Sundays.”

“Then why did you come in last week?” Phil distinctly remembered Dan coming in everyday, including Sunday.

“Like I said, I enjoy talking to you but I didn't want to overstay my 20 minutes in case it came off as weird, you know?”

It was such a simple explanation but not one Phil could quite fathom. He came just to see him? It seemed bizarre. Nonetheless, his compliment gained an embarrassed smile from the guy.

“That… makes sense, I guess,” Phil admitted, wondering how he hadn't noticed that people didn't tend to work every day of the week unless (like himself) they had relatively short hours. As a lawyer his workload must've been awful.

“Not that I don't appreciate these 20 minutes dates we've been doing, but I hope you don't mind if I ask you on a proper date that hopefully spans a little longer? I'll pay.”

Phil nearly choked on his own surprise, trying to disguise it as a subtle cough.

“O – Oh, uh – yeah! Sure, of course, but on one condition.”

Dan raised a brow, curious.

“Alright, I'll bite. What's the condition?”

“I pay. You've already given us – me – enough.”

“Rock, paper, scissors.” Was Dan's succinct reply.

“What?”

“Rock, paper, scissors. Winner pays.”

Phil grinned - a challenge? Well, he wasn't anything if not competitive.

“Deal, on three, ready?”

“One.”

“Two”

“Three!”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed it! If any of you have any requests for other fics or just want to support me, check out my tumblr: https://floralandrogyny.tumblr.com/


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